The Bureau
by SirenofTides
Summary: Megamind has trained his whole life to fight and protect Metrocity from the supernatural...though things start to go down hill and The Bureau finds themselves in a crisis; a possible mutant war...AU,original characters, MMXRR, various other pairings...
1. Prologue

**Authors note: **Yay my first Megamind fanfiction that will end up full-length :3...This fic is set in in an Alternate Universe, so it will not be following the story set up in the original Megamind; there will also be original characters, as well as characters (Doom Syndicate) that have changed sides...So have fun and reviews are much appreciated! thanks! :)

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><p>It was strange...When he had first landed landed on this planet; only eight days old, in a cobbled together escape pod with nothing but his onesie and his fishy companion he had briefly expected it to be...different.<p>

When the pod had opened and he had stared up at the men wearing orange surrounding him with shocked expressions, he even in his infantile stage knew he was different. They did not look like his parents, nor himself, and they certainly didn't look like Minion.

He had crawled out of the star traverser, looking around, perhaps in hopes of seeing familiarity but was met with nothing but a sea of orange and muted skin-tones. He had sat on the jail's concrete _basketed_-ball court with Minion in his lap and cried (though he always left that part out in his stories); until one of the foreigners; a chubby, bald man with a missing tooth scooped him up.

His and Minion's stay at the prison had been a short one; a little under a month; until that fateful day in January when a man in a black suit came to the prison. At that time he had thought it was funny, the mystery man said that his name was John Warden; much like the title of the man that governed his 'uncles'.

He had listened from the small room attached to the Warden's office in his makeshift crib to the low heated voices of the men on the other side of the door. Glancing down to his fish companion in curiosity as the men went silent and the door to his closet-like room opened.

The man 'John Warden;' a man with greying brown hair and kind eyes approached him and gave him a small unsure smile. He had stared back up at him with wide, luminous green eyes in curiosity.

The new 'Warden' had picked him up, swaddling him in his worn blue blanket and looked at him with a soft, yet unreadable expression.

Minion had jumped in his aqua-sphere, unhappy and worried about being separated from his sir. The man noticed this and quickly picked up the globe and handed it to the small blue baby, whose hand shot out from beneath the blanket and eagerly plucked up his friend.

The 'Warden' had smiled as the fish pressed his face up to the glass in an attempt to get closer to the infant. As if checking to make sure no harm had come to him during their brief moment of separation.

"You two are going to a place were you'll be safe; be with others like you..." the man had said softly them.

_'They were going some place?'_ He remembers whining and craning his neck, looking back into the crib _he needed his B.I.N.K.Y...he couldn't leave with out it._

The man noticed this and looked into the crib as well and chuckled; reaching down and plucked up the object and placed it gently into the aliens mouth.

The man in black had bundled he and Minion up tightly before stepping out of the prison and into the cold winter air, heading towards a black car parked just outside the gates.

And when the man had placed him in a cozy little carrier in the back, he knew that he would never see the fenced off complex ever again...His life had changed; once again he had been swept away; though this time he did not cry...No, as the car sped away, he remembered looking down to Minion and actually smiling...

During the first four years at "The Bureau" there were only a few children around his age including; mister-goody-two-shoes (who had been picked up not a week before he...and with some difficulty from his 'adoptive parents.') And although no one in the gaggle of five children looked like him, they shared something in common...They were all different; 'gifted' as Director Warden had told them.

Though it had seemed that the other children including Wayne, saw him as even _more_ different then they...At first he had suspected they had shunned him because he was the new kid, and the youngest of them all. However his fast working brain soon figured out that they_ ee-schewed_ him for a different reasons entirely; and soon he had began to hear whispered teases behind his back...

However that's when Bree; a bright eyed, Welsh girl, three years his senior and in more advanced field studies had noticed the scorn of the other children...He remembered her behaving much in the manor of a mother hen would when defending her..._chicklets? _It was then that he discovered that the red-head had very little tolerance for bullies.

She had laid into Wayne the most, scolding him for picking on a kid that had never done anything wrong; and then she had angrily turned on the rest of the kids. He had listen in awe as the angry girl told the group that here, no one would ever be treated badly because they were thought to be different...Because the truth of the matter was, they were all different from the children their own age; and they would not treat one of their own the way many had been or would have treated before coming to "The Bureau."

At this his _shh-oolmates _had hung their heads in shame, though he had always known that Wayne had felt the most guilty of all.

He still remembered the look on Bree's face when she had turned back to him, smiling fiercely; her dimples highlighting her freckled cheeks.

"Don't worry Blue, I'll watch out for you." she had said.

What she said next, would be something he would always carry with him.

"Like a big sister, I'll take care of you and your fishy friend."

_Like a sister...family...like a family..._

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><p>He hadn't stayed with his fellow classmates for long; no, his amazing intellect had made sure of that...He excelled in his studies, far surpassing the other students and eventually all of his mentors.<p>

At age fourteen he had left top-level college graduates in the dust; he begun inventing machines and mechanisms the world had never seen, and most likely wouldn't have seen for another century.

He had long since stuck his fishy companion on a large, partially furry, gorilla-like mechanical body; he had also mostly perfected his dehydration gun at that point, though at that time it had less settings. And while these things were not his most advanced or showy inventions; they had been the one's he cherished the most, and the ones he _still_ cherished the most.

At fifteen he and the rest of the students his age had been given their code names, he however had known for a long time what he wanted to be called. He had even insisted upon it long before they were given the opportunity to chose their names..._Megamind_

Wayne in his lack of creativity had chosen the name_ Metro Man_ after the name of the city they had first arrived in and would most likely be stationed in.

Bree had received her name three years before he officially had received his and was to be referred to as _Selkie _(though she had made an exception for Minion and himself and of course the Director.)

At this time they had also begun to put their years of training to the test, going out on simulated missions as well as aiding the older agents during actually supernatural events...

This was when he realized that no matter how much he tested his inventions in the safety of the lab he had insisted he had for himself; something_ inevit-ah-bly _went wrong when out in the field.

..._The charge was lost; the thing backfired; it effected everything it wasn't supposed to effect; It had the longest warmup history in the history of warmups..._The list went on and on.

At first it had been cause for utter humiliation, though after a full year of mishaps, the humiliation had ebbed away and had been replaced with annoyance and frustration...Much of the time he had taken it out on Minion, blaming him for the technically difficulties. But he had always felt rather guilty when he was done venting on his best friend; though his pride would never let him admit to it.

Wayne-or rather Metro Man on the other hand, had come through with flying colours, acing every test, every situation like a pro and had quickly become one of the favourites; and this irked him to no end. Soon he had begun to view his fellow agent as a rival rather than a teammate...

Two years later, at age eighteen he and Wayne joined Selkie, and a few other's as the main active agents for _Metrocity_ under Assistant Director Maria Thatcher (also known as agent _Hot Flash_). As expected the citizens of the city had applauded and welcomed in the Godlike, human looking alien...He on the other hand, once again found that he was shunned and ignored by the general populace. Of course his ego would have none of this and he consistently tried to one-up his fellow agent, time and time again.

This of course had ended in many scoldings from Minion, Selkie, Assistant Director Thatcher, and even Director John Warden. But nothing could have prepared them for the amount of showmanship he had possessed until age twenty-three rolled around. At that time the city's most trusted news station had hired a young woman; bright eyed, plucky and fresh-out-of-college, her name was Roxanne Ritchi...

He had quickly developed a sort of puppy love the first few times she had interviewed Wayne (and himself...somewhat...though he had been mostly background noise with all of his annoyed grousing over his failed equipment.) And when he had discovered that she was smart, and witty, he just about fell head over heels.

Soon he began creating more and more elaborate inventions; amping up his presentation, in hopes of catching her eye. And he did, in a way; though when he had finally received his own question it wasn't exactly one he was proud of.

"Do you think that any of your inventions will ever work the way they are supposed to?"

He had been taken back by this, and then he bristled, and then he walked off in a huff; of course he had later regretted his childlike reaction.

When he had been interviewed again he was still sore from the first one and he had been a bit snarky; he had not expected that she would take his grumpiness in stride and strike up some witty banter with him.

After that it had quickly become their routine, Wayne would get praised and fawned over and then it would be his turn...True he would act _blah-see_ about it, try his best to be charming and suave; but on the inside, he was always bubbling up with excitement at the prospect he had once again caught her attention...Even if it had been because one of his inventions once again failed miserably...

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><p>For three years somewhat of a routine had developed, defeat various supernatural beings and the occasional would-be terrorist; get interviewed for the news; begin the whole process over again.<p>

Rarely had the beings The Bureau faced been much of a challenge, many had been low level Minors, a few higher level _Devi-ah-tions_ but nothing ever higher than that.

Then when he was twenty-seven, there appeared to be an influx of activity, more higher level mutants had begun to pull themselves from the proverbially shadows (and in some instances _actual_ shadows.)...Two months later the division found themselves facing a possible Chimera infestation. (The teams resident illusionist, _Psycho-Delic_ had quickly denied that they were of his illusion-craft as a possible attempt as a late April Fool's joke.)

And when he had finally been able to obtain an _ad-a-quate_ sample he had discovered the disturbing fact that they were genetically crafted by an individual that knew what they were doing.

A week later the team had received information that the being responsible for the string of Chimera attacks was going by the name of _The Chimera Lord_; and he wasn't working alone. Unfortunately there had been no previous dealings with a villain under this name; and the blue alien had soon discovered with great disdain that there were no genetic fingerprints he could trace back to a source...

Over the next few months there had been an increase in the creatures created by the so-called Chimera Lord; and then things took a turn for the worse...

A group of thugs...or what was left of them had been found on the east side of the industrial district. All that had been left was corpses (if they could even be called that). The 'most intact one' had major areas or corroded skin that looked as though it had been melted to the bone and larger ares of the remains were simply piles of viscous goo and ashes. The remainder of the criminals took on the appearance of the latter. Upon further inspection he found that this form decay was most likely due to some sort of chemical rather than a high heat or open flame.

A week later one of the city's leading scientists was found dead in his home, with a series of deep gauges taken out of his body; and on his back the word _"отвращение"_ was carved.

Selkie had informed him that the translation was _Abomination_ and it had come from someone who had either been taught Russian or was native to country.

With a little research he had discovered that the murdered scientist had been dabbling in the field of genetics, and some of his experiments could have been considered less than legal...

Over the next two months, things quickly went down hill; with more and more issues and incidences occurring at faster rates. It soon appeared as though The Bureau might be facing a crisis; a possible mutant war...


	2. Old Habits

**Author's Note: **Ugh! finally finished this thing! it's been angrily staring me down for weeks! Still not completely happy with it but meh... So here is chapter one of The Bureau... oh and language translations are below! Hope you all enjoy and please review if you have the time :3

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><p>He nearly jumped out of his custom leather boots at the sound of his communication device going off in his lab coat pocket.<p>

"What on earth?" he squeaked in surprise.

"Sir I believe that would be your pager..." his piscine companion said with an amused smile while adjusting his shower cap.

"I know that _Minion_!" he seethed, grumbling at his jumpiness and tugging his goggles up; he fumbled with the flap of his coat pocket, finally managing to pull the slim, pager-like device out. "Of all the-!" he was too frustrated to even finish his sentence.

Ripping the goggles completely off his head he threw them on the ground in a huff before struggling out of his lab coat like a child throwing a fit about wearing a scratchy sweater.

_...Of course there would be a mutant attack during one of his projects that needed his utmost attention._

"Get ready Minion; apparently there is a mutant attack going on downtown. Honestly! You'd think they would learn their lesson about trying to rob _Metrocity-city_ bank!" the blue scientist groused as he motioned for the Brainbots to suit him up.

_He still refused to get suited up with the rest of the team...this of course lead to some 'good-natured' teasing from his fellow agents. Mostly about how he was afraid of showing his little blue butt; to this he of course profusely denied._

"Well you know what people say Sir, 'old habits die hard.'"

"Apparently!" he replied with a grunt as he struggled to pull a boot on as the bots fiddled with the back of his suit.

Minion chuckled and was about to give a good natured reply when the door to the lab suddenly slammed open. Megamind let out a feminine yelp he would later, never admit to, and jumped in surprise; managing to smack some very stunned Brainbots in the process.

"Blue!" a fiery head of hair came into view from around on of the machines; _Selkie_. "Are you ready yet! I swear you take longer than a girl!"

"I'm getting dressed! Don't you knock?" the blue scientist sputtered, urging his bots to work faster.

"Oh please, I've seen men before, you'd just be blue." she replied with a chuckle, coming to stand by Minion, hands on her wide hips.

"It's- it's the _preencible_ of the matter- Agh!" he squawked, as one of the flustered assistants in their haste pulled too hard in zipping up the back of the suit, managing to strangle him partially.

The red head rolled her eyes and cast a glance up to the man's fishy companion.

"I sometimes wonder how you put up with his shenanigans _fy ffrind*_" she said with a chuckle.

"He doesn't 'put up' with me!" Megamind interrupted, giving himself the once over and adjusting his collar.

"Are you ready yet _tywysoges*_?" she asked teasingly with a quirk of her lips.

"I know what you're saying!" he said bristling, stomping his foot and pointing an accusing finger at the Welsh woman.

Selkie simply waved him off with a playful smile.

"Minion, are you two ready? Doppler has the chopper waiting, and you know how testy she gets when we run behind." she asked in all seriousness. "and besides I don't want to wait until the bank is a total mess."

Minion nodded as the woman turned on her heel and began to walk briskly towards the entrance.

"Well where is Metro _Mahn_? I'm surprised he hasn't already taken care of this and stolen the spotlight." Megamind huffed as he ran up beside his fellow agent.

"Sir, there's no need to be grumpy." Minion chided, earning a mumbled mocking from his alien companion.

"Wayne's on an intelligence mission with The Page Master-" she began, only to be interrupted by her younger agent; _(she had noticed he had developed a bad habit of barging into peoples sentences.)_

"With Bernard again?" he asked in surprise.

Over the past few month's Metro City's white knight had begun to spend more and more time with the cynical undercover museum worker.

"He's always with that man, are they married yet?" he exclaimed throwing his hands up in the air in exasperation.

"Don't tease! it isn't becoming of you _syr gwyddonydd_*" She scolded him, glancing over her shoulder; which proved to be a bad idea because she nearly ran into one of Megamind's many machines.

"Fine..." he huffed jogging out into the hall, once again being force to catch up with the redhead and Minion; they seemed to be increasing their speed once again. _How did Selkie walk so fast? he had longer legs than her!_

A moment later, and nearly to the hanger, the realization hit him...

"OH!" he exclaimed. "Wait! wait! I almost forgot!" breaking off from his two companions and rushing back to the lab, nearly tripping over himself in his frantic scramble.

"Where is he going in such a hurry...doesn't he know how pissy LD gets?" a cool voice floated over to the robotic bound fish and the redheaded agent.

Turning the two companions saw Psycho Delic striding casually over to them from the hanger bay; the sound of helicopter wings at his back, indicating the white haired agent's growing impatience.

"Half the time I don't think Sir really listens to words of warning." Minion said with a nervous chuckle.

"hmm, I would be surprised...You coming with us Psycho Delic?" Selkie questioned the purple man.

"Might as well, things have been pretty quite lately; I could use a stretch." he replied with a smile; his slightly crooked teeth baring a Cheshire-like grin.

The female agent went to reply when her comm. unit went off; upon seeing the user of channel she immediately regretted having to answer it.

"Doppler we are-" she began only to be caught off guard by Minion who had quickly switched his device to the comm. channel that was in use and began to explain to the beleaguered woman on the other end what the hold up was.

"Miss Doppler; sorry about the wait, Sir just forgot something back in the lab, and we'll be there shortly." he explained gently.

There was an audible sigh from the other end _(everyone knew no one could be upset with the ichthyoid; aside from the Megamind, but people were beginning to doubt even that...)_

"Just hurry up...we won't have a city to save if baldy doesn't get his little blue ass in motion." came the controlled yet obviously peeved response.

Almost as if he had heard his calling, the blue scientist was rushing back to the small gaggle with a fairly good sized gun-like weapon cradled in his arms; he was grinning from ear to ear.

"This-" he began as he reached the group. "-Is my latest creat-"

"Yes, yes, latest and greatest creation ever." Selkie cut him off, motioning for Psycho Delic and Minion to start heading towards the copper before hurrying around the sulking scientist and shoving him towards the helicopter pad. "Yes Blue, _syfrdanol; yn awr mynd mynd MYND!*"_

Megamind grunted sulkily and allowed himself to be ushered to the awaiting helicopter; all the while allowing the redhead know he was upset with her and pouting...

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><p>Things didn't not go as well as planned and the agents were sure that Hot Flash would be giving Intel. hell for having dropped the ball. The bank robbers were not lower level mutants, and worst of all they seemed prepared for The Bureau's intervention. Suited up in weighted, insulated, crudely welded, hodgepodge metal suits, Lady Doppler found that it seemed nearly impossible to do any wind or electrical damage to the duo. Psycho Delic found that due to their gas masks his illusion making mists had no effect on them; and Minion's mechanical strength seemed to be evenly matched by them.<p>

The whole thing was turning into a situation they were not prepared for...

_This couldn't be happening; not after all the tests he had run before hand_; he grumbled to himself and smacked the side of the gun against his hand...nothing.

By know he had completely forgotten about the scene going on around him, even as Minion was smashed into the wall beside him and slumped to the ground, stunned momentarily. He scowled at the immobilizer gun in his hand, before puffing out his chest, gripping the weapon tightly and then shook it with all his might.

"Work! You misguided creation of science!" he shouted at the device.

A sudden gust of wind slammed into his body causing him to yelp in surprise as he was lifted up and flung out of the way of bolt of electricity that crashed into the wall behind where he had just been. He was promptly dropped on his ass a few feet away with a "_Oof_!"

Immediately he cast an evil glare upward to the white haired woman floating in the air, weaving elegantly around sporadic blasts from the one of the nefarious bank robbing mutant's electrical gauntlets.

"Oh please, I just saved your skinny little ass!" Lady Doppler said with a wry smile, as she dodged another bolt of lightning, before returning his glare with gusto.

"You could've damaged my Immobilizer Ray!" he griped, plucking up his gun from the floor and inspecting it quickly.

"The fall might have jarred it enough to get it to work-" Psycho Delic's voice teased.

Megamind coughed as a purple smoke swirled around him. "-But that's wishful thinking!" a cackle in his ear and then the smoke slithered off.

He paused, and bristled, his scowl slowly morphing into something darker. Raising the gun above his head he thrust it on the ground with an animal like growl where it bounced once and then fired.

Minion discovered that he suddenly, couldn't move; in mid-stride he found that all of his weight was thrown in front of him on one foot; with a baffled whine he crashed stiffly to the ground.

Megamind stared from his now immobile piscine companion to the gun now laying on the floor, and he felt his eye twitch in his moment of disbelief. _Of course this would happen...this kind of thing always happened to me..._his subconscious murmured.

"Alright, that's it!" he looked to his side to see Selkie charging forward, he knew what was coming, seeing as how she had just returned from evacuating the building.

Quickly reaching into one of the holsters at his hip he drew out two small earphone-like devices; noticing out of the corner of his eye that Doppler and Psycho Delic were mimicking the action.

Snapping the curved appendages attached to the bud around the shell of his ear. He double checked to make sure they were secure before rushing over to Minion, pulling another item from the holster and slapping the noise displacer device to the side of his tank.

Narrowly dodging a surge of electricity, the redhead growled and glared at the two criminals before poising herself. Puffing out her chest she checked to make sure that her teammates were ready.

The air rushed out of her, her vocal cords straining as she released a tidal wave of sound.

Megamind watched as windows not yet smashed, blew out simultaneously; he could feel the floor vibrate, and soon noticed that his body was jittering as well.

Looking up he saw the two metal clad mutants clutching at their helmeted heads in pain; he winced, feeling a sliver of pity for them; no doubt their eardrums had been blown out. However it was then that he noticed that their suits were reverberating from the sound and areas of weak welding were beginning to crack.

Seconds later chunks of metal began to fall off; finally after a few more moments, the two crumpled to the floor in defeat.

Upon seeing the villains fall to the ground, Selkie stumbled back and clutched at her burning throat; how she hated doing that sometimes. Swallowing thickly she motioned to her teammates to remove their earplugs before walking briskly over to their crumpled adversaries.

Megamind got there first, ripping off their helmets revealing two normal looking men, most likely in their early thirties. As his fellow agents joined him, he briefly noticing they had attempted to prepare for the redheaded Welsh agent as well _(though winter earmuffs were hardly the proper protection.)_ He looked at the blood trickling down from beneath the fluffy ear covers and heard one of the men moan _(Yes, definitely not enough protection.)_

Looking over the gauntlets momentarily he grabbed his scanning device at his hip and jammed it against the now exposed neck of the man closest to him. Then repeating the process on the other; gathering two tissue samples. He stood up with a grunt, pursing his lips and waited for the analysis.

"What's it say Sir?" Minion piped up from his unmoving position on the floor.

Megamind raised a finger to indicate for the fish to be patient; another moment and he had his results.

Apart from the much higher electrical pulses they emitted, there wasn't anything else that really resulted in any interest. Glancing back down to the gauntlets he quickly deduced that they were the instruments used to amply the duo's somewhat lackluster powers.

_The only real reason there had been any issue with these two was because of the suits._ He frowned at this...something wasn't right about this whole situation.

"Well I guess intel. wasn't completely wrong...they ARE weaklings"

He jumped upon noticing Lady Doppler was standing right behind him, looking over his shoulder at the scanner. Bumping into Selkie who was at his other side also gazing at the device, he rolled his eyes at his companions.

"Why the hell did we have such a time with them then?"

Glaring upwards Megamind was met face to face with Psycho Delic who was hovering just above his head.

"Honestly! Do none of you have any _con-ncept_ of personal space?" he chastised them, and jerked his scanner to the sides and curled his body inward as if trying to hide the device in the curve of his slumped form.

"_Pfft!_" the white haired woman looking over his should huffed and rolled her snowy eyes at his childishness. "Lets just strip the armor from these guys and let the police handle the rest...I'm sure they're getting tired of waiting." she motioned to the busted down bank door and the scene outside.

Police were already blockading a gathering crowd, a crowd including citizens and reporters.

Megamind groaned at this...once again he would be ridiculed by their questions. And even though it meant he would get to see Miss Ritchi; today he felt as though he just wanted to sink into the floor and disappear.

He simply muttered his acknowledgment to his fellow agent before following in suit, securing the rogue mutants equipment and managing to get Minion's robotic body working partially before hauling the dazed men to the front of the ruined building.

Three policemen quickly ascended the stairs, greeting them taking the would-be robbers off their hands, while another two helped Minion cart off the equipment.

Megamind sighed and slowly, as if moving towards his death, descended the stairs towards the onslaught of reporters.

Looking up at the sea of hungry information grabbers he saw her; Roxanne Ritchi, and as usual she was front and center...

As the heroes left the wrecked bank to greet the information seekers, fans, and enforcers of the law, a wispy cloud of silver mist slithered across the floor. Silently creeping up the adjacent wall and into an air vent disappearing from the crime scene completely unnoticed...

Welsh Translations:

1. _fy ffrind–_ my friend

2. _tywysoges_– princess

3. _syr gwyddonydd_– sir/mr. scientist

4. _syfrdanol; yn awr mynd mynd MYND!_– stunning; now go, go, go!


	3. So It Begins

**Author's Note:** Thank you to all that have reviewed so far, and I am glad that people are enjoying it. This chapter didn't come out exactly as I wanted it but I was pleased nonetheless; it mainly focuses on Roxanne and the two main villains that may their debuts in this chapter... Read and Review and of course enjoy :3

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><p>Roxanne found it hard to believe as Hal drove her home; how absolutely defeated and almost self-loathing Megamind had been when she prompted him for an interview after the whole bank robbery incident.<p>

He hadn't even allowed her to open her mouth before he stared her down with hurt and disdain in his vivacious green eyes; He had spat out a single comment before shoving out of the crowd and waking down the street,and past The Bureau's helicopter as if in a trance.

_"Yes once again I screwed up, lets add this to my long list of failures; I'm sure someone is enjoying keeping score."_

She kept mulling over what he had said, over and over in her mind; he had looked at her, just her, as if know one else existed, as if the crowd wasn't even there. He said it to her alone...

When she had first met him and given him his first interview, she had suspected that he was trying to one-up Metro Man in a silly game that men seemed to like playing; however...As the years went by it became apparent, at least to her, that he was trying to impress her...

At first she laughed it off; a silly concept; unheard of! Though as time went by and his attempts to catch her attention never seemed to falter or wane, she began to admire his determination. Soon after, she found it quite enduring, and romantic in an odd backwards sort of way. She of course would never admit to it, being too proud; she, a star reporter with perhaps, just maybe a teensy, tiny, miniscule crush the cities resident spaceman/hero/super-genius.

She scoffed at herself even now for thinking about it, and then scolded herself; she was a grown woman and she should behave as such.

Sighing she slumped back in the news vans' passenger seat and fiddled out of boredom with the microphone in her hands.

"Hey Roxy, did you hear what I said?"

Roxanne jumped at the sound of her camera man's voice but did well to cover up her surprise.

"Sorry Hal, I guess I zoned out for a sec." she replied, pushing the hair from her eyes.

"I said do you think that babe Lady Doppler or whatever is dating that weird purple guy?" he repeated, gazing at her briefly before staring back to the road.

Why can't you be closer apartment? she thought, not wanting to engage in petty gossip.

"I don't know, why?" she replied trying to sound as though she was at least trying to engage him.

"Just what to find out all my chances." he replied.

Roxanne scrunched up her nose and resisted rolling her eyes; sometimes she hated working with men, especially pig-headed ones. Not that Hal was all too horrible,...but he had his moments.

"That Selkie chick isn't to bad looking; redheads aren't really my type-"

She nearly laughed out loud at that,_ not his type? for god-sake he sported some of the wildest red hair she had ever seen!_

"I'm more into brunettes." he finished casting a sly glance over to her.

At that moment she wanted to sink into her seat and disappear completely.

"Is that so..." she mumbled with a shaky laugh.

"Yeah, totally!" he replied enthusiastically.

_Yes, definitely disappear..._

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><p>Gazing out at the horizon splashed with dark blues, purples and a thin strip of shimmering orange водоворот watched the darkening sky, patiently waiting for night to fall. A sudden gust of warm summer wind swept her short hair up causing it to blow in her face, her dark cape flapping in the wind around her.<p>

The weather here wasn't much different from the sweltering heat her country at times experienced during the summer months; the Black sea bringing warm gusts of salty air across the countryside. However nightfall there often brought some relief from the heat of the day; here the city seemed to grasp at the heat, holding it in its place, making even the night air seem heavy...

Still, though the weather here was not what she would consider satisfactory, she would deal with the short comings of the seasons as long as she never had to return to that place by the sea...

"Night is falling...do you have everything in order?" she asked coolly, not bothering to give the being behind her any other acknowledgement. She received no answer save for the bouncing of a sopping wet tennis and the sound of long nails scrabbling on concrete.

Wordlessly she turned away from the ledge of the building a stared calmly at the slim, sinewy figure relaxing against lackadaisically against a large pipe protruding from the building's roof.

"Do you care to pay attention?" she questioned coldly, a simple flick of inhumanly orange-yellow eyes, but other than that the being took little heed of her tone.

"It's called multitasking Oksana." he replied nonchalantly, eagerly receiving a slobbery, worn tennis ball in his clawed hand; he smiled at his strange creation waiting excitedly for him to throw it's play thing. "That's when-" he continued, throwing the ball roughly with a small 'unf!' "-That's when you do more than one thing at a time." at this he eyed her fully, a sarcastic smirk tugging at his lips, a flash of sharp white points wickedly glinting back at her.

The woman merely stared at him, expression calm and unwavering.

The man's face fell into a frown and then a scowl; rolling his eyes, he sluggishly got to his feet with a grunt. Gently shooing off the large beast at his side, and it whined for him to take the ball from him and continue playing. Once again refusing the creature, he strode forward and stood beside the Russian woman.

"_Wither_ is currently attempting to track down the _PageMaster_...you know what you are to do. "she stated, casting a glance down to the city streets far below.

"Hmm..." he replied as if in thought;_ he was playing again..._

"You know _Chimera_; correct." she repeated again and he could sense the minute undertones of annoyance in her voice.

"Yes, yes." he responded quickly as he rested one of his three toed feet on the ledge; leaning his body over slightly to look down at the streetlamp lit roads below as well.

"Though why is it exactly you want to follow the oddball cameraman while I get the star reporter?" he questioned, feeling the zing of vertigo as he leaned just a bit further, the long claws on his toes clutching at the concrete subconsciously.

"The cameraman will most likely have the most documented information, video, scripts and text or he will at least be able to retrieve it for me...he seems very...malleable...with any luck, he and that van of his will hold documented information on The Bureau."

Slowly slinking back from the buildings' brink, The Chimera Lord hummed his approval bringing his index finger and thumb to his lips; with a quick blow a loud, piecing whistle echoed across the cityscape.

"If I go to her, she will inform The Bureau." vivid eyes flicked over to the woman at his side.

"Perhaps...though it would only lead to increased activity on their part, more appearances, more chances to gather information and plan." she responded coolly.

Before he could respond a shrill screech calls out to him; whipping his head around excitedly he smiled fondly a the winged beast flying towards him.

"Hello my little Owlet." he cooed at it as it found purchase on his shoulder; fluffing up it's feathers before nuzzling his jaw, chirping happily.

водоворот eyed the odd creation of The Chimera Lords' science; A feathered fox bat, with the head of an owl and large ears, was the closest thing she could think of on how to describe it. It was his favourite creation aside from the large, ostrich legged, feathered crocodile that lay behind him, gnawing on the well worn tennis ball.

Though it didn't matter if they were favourites or not, she did not trust them, and she was wary of all of his little chimera's.

Eyeing the great beast behind her one last time she turned just as her companion was finishing up giving directions to his little winged beast. Her nose wrinkled in mild disgust as he nuzzled the creature affectionately before, urging it to go.

She was about to insure that the Owlet wouldn't screw up her plans when she saw the Chimera Lord's pointed ears twitch and perk up.

"He's coming..." he said looking back down to the streets below, seeing the all too familiar news van approaching, no doubt returning from it's trip from dropping off stations star reporter and now on it's way back to the station; cameraman at the wheel. "Yup that's him! That familiar engine rumble,...and dear god they need to fix that muffler..." he cringed.

She merely nodded in reply before poofing into cloud of silver smoke and wispily glided over the edge of the building, plummeting towards the oncoming news van.

The Chimera Lord shivered as he watch the woman's misty form skid down the building towards the streets below, gathering speed...and he cringed as the news van drove through her misted form when she entered the street. Though she quickly gathered herself together and took off, following the vehicle, he knew she would not be happy about the wasted time.

Turning on his heel, he clicked his tongue at the beast that sat leisurely waiting for him.

It quickly got to it's feet and threw the tennis ball back to him which he caught and gingerly placed it into the pouch attached to his belt.

Swinging his leg up and over, he mounted the creature and gently grasped at the long feather like hairs between it's shoulder blades before giving off another quick click.

The chimera leapt forward, bounding across the rooftops towards Roxanne Ritchi's apartment...

* * *

><p>Roxanne stepped out of the warm, soothing jet of water, reaching for a towel and wrapping it around her body before turning off the shower.<p>

Stilling mulling over the events of the day she exited the bathroom and quickly, dried herself off and donned her silk bathrobe; perfectly intent on relaxing on the couch with a glass of wine and the book she had been trying to get through for the past month.

though a sudden rustling caught her attention, and then a squeak..._Rats?_ No; though her apartment wasn't the lap-of-luxury, the complex was certainly for those that did well for themselves, and the manager certainly would never allow any sort of pest to take up residence.

Another rustling, though this time it sounded like the flapping of wings.

Scrambling over to her bed, she reached beneath it and grabbed for her sports equipment; managing to grab her tennis racket. Though she thought about scurrying under the bed and finding her baseball bat, she quickly decided that she would rather not be caught by surprise in searching for it.

Deciding the racket was good enough she tiptoed out into hall; looking out into the dark over the open floor plane below. Cursing that she should have turned the light on when she came in the door; she crept over to the stairs and carefully began to descend them.

Her senses on high alert her head whipped around when she though she saw something out of the corner of her eye.

Eyes wide and wary she finally made it to the bottom of the staircase; and after a moment of listening in silence she decided to make a mad dash towards the light switch.

As she took her first step forward a black mass whooshed out in front of her; she gasped and instinctually swung the tennis racket. With satisfying thwack the waxed strings made contact and she watched as the thing sailed through the air and skidded to a halt out on the balcony.

_...Wait..._she hadn't left the doors to the terrace open...

She gulped and looked around briefly, before stepping forward to get a better view on what she had just smacked with a solid forehand.

_Maybe she had left the doors unlock and a gust of wind had pushed them open?_ She knew that it probably wasn't the case but she found some comfort in it.

As she neared the thing twitching out on her patio she raised the racket again, just in case it roused and tried to attack her.

Suddenly the racket was pulled from her grip forcefully; before she could turn around she watched as it was then flung over the side of the building to the streets below. Turning on her heel, she raised her hands ready to strike out at whatever had invaded her home...however what she saw caused her to falter...

Two mismatched golden eyes seemed to glow as they starred back at her; the left eye caught her attention the most, an orange-yellow iris stood out amongst the blacked cornea surrounding it. She briefly wondered how that was even possible when something else, something far more unnerving caught her eye.

A row of vicious looking teeth were glinting back at her in a grin not unlike the cheshire cat's.

"Miss Ritchi, I do believe that it is impolite to stare." a voice shook her from her daze and she quickly realized that the intruder was speaking to her. "And I don't appreciate you maiming my poor little chimera..." the hint of malice in his voice made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

After a moment she got a hold of herself well enough and was able to process his words; and she felt a sudden surge of anger well up in her; _impolite? And a scolding her for defending herself?_ He had broken into her home and he was accusing her of being impolite and violent?

"Just who the hell do you think you are?" she seethed and raised her hand again making a fist, ready to strike out at him.

The world was suddenly spinning and a moment later she found her arm painfully pinned behind her back and the strange man whispered in her ear.

"I am The Chimera Lord." he says, a smile evident in his voice. "...And you Miss Ritchi have information I want."

"W-what are you talking about?" she gritted out, pulling at her arm that was quickly becoming very sore.

"The Bureau Miss Ritchi, I want information on The Bureau."

"Ha! Why would I have any information on them? They are a secret organization you know, they aren't even a division of the government." she scoffed.

"See that's information right there...though it's the kind that anyone with a brain and a computer would most likely be able to find... You seem to be the favourite little reporter when it comes to them; you must have some interesting little tidbits." he chuckled in her ear.

She frowned, she knew just about as much as any reporter would know on The Bureau; which amounted to not much at all. She thought about the various reports she had read on The Bureau activities, and the different incidences they had dealt with.

It was then that something struck her; her captor had said his _chimera_, and that he was a _Chimera Lord_...she remembered hearing from Bernard that The Bureau had been investigating a series of appearances, dealing with mutated animals that had begun to spring up in the city...She had of course promised she wouldn't reveal any of this to the media, and in turn cynical librarian had told her that they had been doing genetic tests of the creatures that they had been able to capture. Though the tests had yielded no genetic fingerprints or indicators on who their creator was. He had told her to keep an ear to the ground and an eye out for any clues as to who was creating these anomalies.

Roxanne gulped and her body went ridged; this being that had just broken into her apartment was the creator.

"You're afraid Miss Ritchi; I can smell it." he suddenly whispers in her ear. "but...not as afraid as I would have expected..." he chuckled at this and his grip loosens.

Suddenly her hands are free and he is in front of her, holding her chin roughly between his thumb and forefinger; his long nails bitting into her skin painfully.

"You are very interesting...but I can see that I have over stayed my welcome; though I'm sure we'll meet again Miss Ritchi... But in the meantime I implore you to tell your little friends at The Bureau that I don't take kindly to them killing and dissecting my little pets." He hissed the last part venomously in her ear.

Suddenly, she feels a light prick on the side of her neck, and out of the corner of her eye she sees him pulling a syringe away from her. She stares back at him, eyes wide with uncertainty and fear.

"Don't worry, it won't harm you; you'll wake up in a few hours." he cooed gently in her ear as her head lolls back on her shoulders, her blue eyes becoming clouded with veil of tiredness.

She desperately tries to fight off the clutches of drowsiness, but she knew that it was in vain; and quickly feels herself becoming lax in his arms...On the brink of sleep Roxanne vaguely acknowledged him hoisting her up and carrying her over to her couch before everything went black...


End file.
